Statement on Southern Strikes

I have profound sympathies for all commuters during these strikes. Today has been chaos. It is the first time in ages that I was pleased to make the journey to Westminster in only an hour and a half, getting a lift to Morden and heading up the Northern Line. As I hope all my constituents would have seen from my newspaper that went out last week, I, along with with 50+ other MPs who represent constituencies with stations serviced by Southern, have been calling for these strikes to be called off and talks to resume. This is no time for MPs to be abandoning this cross-party effort for political gain. We need to work together on this to put an end to this commuter misery.

Southern and the unions need to remember the commuters they represent rather than point-scoring. I am deeply disappointed that the unions are refusing to come to talks even without any preconditions. This is all about who presses a button to close the doors. Driver only operated trains operate on over a third of the rail network already, all trains that go through Sutton are driver-only operated and Thameslink drivers are at work today, represented by the same union, and they are driving driver-only operated trains. This makes this strike look vindictive rather than about a credible safety concern.

This is my top priority at the moment. I am getting regular updates from the government, with another due this afternoon, who have also invited all parties back to the table, and I continue to call for these strikes to be call off.

I will say it again – all parties need to remember the commuters they serve. People are losing or quitting their jobs because of how appalling the train service is – this cannot be allowed to continue. The strike and wider industrial action needs to end now so we can go back to tackling the underlying issues that have dogged this network for years.

9 Comments

Fiona White
on 13/12/2016 at 12:23 pm

It’s NOT all about who presses a button, Paul. Please check the facts and don’t believe everything that Mr Grayling tells you. It’s much more complicated that that. And check out the role of the DfT – they are far from blameless. Your constituents deserve to know the full picture.

DfT made a fundamental mistake in making this franchise so big and unwieldy. Southern and GTR are singularly useless. However the immediate dispute is exactly about who presses a button, unless you include the fact that the leaders of the two unions are determined to make this into a pitched political battle. The sooner we can get back to concentrating on the modernisation of the network in South London, the better for everyone, especially the hard-pushed, understandably irate commuters.

Southern runs a terrible service whether it’s a strike day or not and this has been going on for much longer than the strikes. Please start to admit that this model of running the railways in this country is not working. Maybe then we can move on.

Most people acknowledge that the GTR management contract (which includes Thameslink and Southern) is not the way to run a network. The area is far too big, taking in 22% of the entire network. I would expect this to be split up before renewal in 2021 (if GTR are still in place by then). The Secretary of State has already started the process of bringing operational control of the trains and the rail closer together, thus ending the opportunity for the train operating companies and Network Rail to blame each other for cancellations and delays. Southern have been singularly useless in running services but signal problems, broken rails and overrunning engineering works are beyond them. I was one of the first MPs to call for TfL to take over the running of the suburban London lines. Even if the Secretary of State continues to veto this, I will be pushing him to ensure that TfL have a greater input into the franchise design, the tendering process and ongoing management.

Just spent 45 mins travelling 4 miles to Morden (with the toddlers still in their pj’s) so my husband can get to work. In all the years commuting I have NEVER seen a guard or anyone other than a driver on the trains from Cheam. The government needs to intervene and ban strikes on vital services such as rail. It is disgusting that these unions seem to be getting away with this.

That’s because every single train that goes through Cheam and Sutton station has been Driver-Only operated for many years. It’s a massive blow to commuters that we can’t get back to concentrate on Southern’s underlying poor performance, the terrible infrastructure in South London and the modernisation of the system. Instead we’re in a politicised battle of attrition which affects you, me and every other commuter on a daily basis.

Please try to research this properly rather than regurgitating verbatim what your party tells you to. It’s far more complex than being about ‘who closes the doors’ and you as an MP have a duty to your constituents to deal with the issue with more intelligence.

Hi Nigel. Apart from the fact that the dispute is about undermining a Tory government it is pretty much that straightforward. Aslef have been offered support to upgrade technology on existing rolling stock to improve visibility, indemnity for drivers caught up in accidents and job guarantees beyond the franchise renewal date but all turned down to perpetuate the strike.